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Hearthsong
Type: Thorpe Affinity: Nature Level: 4 Ruler: Baron Arraegath ap Daireann Location: Aiken Canyon Preserve The Aiken Canyon Visitor's Center is home to a staff-only office that is much, much more than it seems. Normally off-limits to anyone not working there, providing one of the kin or kith employees with a unique pass phrase will grant one access. Beyond the locked door, is, what appears to be your run of the mill office, furnished as one might expect. Business is done here, but not the kind the enlightened visitor intends. Against a wall rests a bookshelf. When three particular books are removed in the correct order, the shelf rolls to one side, revealing a doorway leading to a set of stairs. Though all signs point to this building being a single floor. Count the stairs as you descend them. One, ten, twenty. They'll go on endlessly unless you do this out loud. The magic number seems to be twenty-two. Curiously enough, there is always only eleven stairs on the way up, no matter how many one has taken down. If done correctly, one will find him or herself in the finished basement. This area seems to somehow exist on the border of the mundane and the magical. The basement floor is split into four equally sized rooms, each serving their own purpose. A room of bunks to rest, a room furnished as a den and game room to relax, an area set up to provide basic emergency medical care of a magical variety, and finally a fourth room, with yet another desk, and a door that would appear to lead outside somehow. This level serves the purpose of providing a getaway for those who do not wish to or cannot afford to be enchanted at the time. Though it's mere presence seems to warp reality itself, it is still attached to the Autumn World in ways that the touch of Glamour is not necessary. That's not to say that it is lacking in protection and defenses. Beyond the door in the fourth room, however, is the true hold, and the Near Dreaming. The attendant at that desk, though a golem in nature, does provide an important service. First time visitors are asked to swear a temporary oath. While under the effects of the oath, anyone needing rescue or relief -- Seelie or Unseelie -- can find it at the hold. All are entitled to at least 4 days, every month, in which they can call it home without fear of retribution from anyone else. After those 4 days, they must provide something useful to the hold and its community to remain. During that time, visitors are expected to carry themselves in a manner that upholds both the tenets of the Escheat. They are not to attack one another out of spite, more importantly, they cannot seek out any vengeance while on the grounds. The rules are quite simple, the benefits outweigh the price of following them. The true expanse of the Freehold lies in the Near Dreaming. Those stepping through the door will find themselves in a small cave, with a light beckoning them towards the exit. Stepping outside will put them on the edge of a hamlet, caught in both anachronistic times (think medieval fantasy), and everlasting Spring. Beyond the homes, and the shops, this small, but thriving town is bordered on all sides with the Near Dreaming's reflection of the Aiken Canyon. Further past that, a forest. Even further, well, let's hope you know Dream-Craft. 'The Hearthsong Oath' System: Swearing the Hearthsong Oath grants the oathbound the full benefits of membership. These include 4 nights of refuge during a full month, no questions asked. The oathsworn may also request 1 night each month of restful sleep within the light of the balefire (but not direct access to it.) On these nights, they recover an additional +4 Glamour, and an additional +1 temporary Willpower. All members of Hearthsong are also granted sanctuary. And vengeance may not be sought against them as long as they remain upstanding members of the community. For long term residents, this includes taking up some sort of job, or position to support the hold and its community. Acting against the hold itself, or any sworn member of Hearthsong with ill intent violates this oath. The oathbreaker suffers the harsh penalty of the loss of two points of Permanent Willpower. They will also be ejected and dumped onto an anchored portion of the Silver Path outside of the hold, within the Near Dreaming. Category:Changeling